No buses Cheltenham/Ivydale road Nov 15th to Jan 2012 - resurfacing works

[The Minkey]

Just a heads up: I was round at an elderly friend's a little earlier and she showed me a letter from Southwark/Conways which said Cheltenham and Ivydale Roads will be being resufaced so buses will be on diversion turning off at Stuart Road coming back onto the route at Mertin's Road. The dates are from Monday November 15th (except Monday's date is the 14th) running through til Jan 2012.

Would have been useful if those of us affected by the loss of our bus stops could also have been notified, e.g. advance warning notices at the affected bus stops, but nothing doing..

[aquarius moon]

Thanks for the info. Is it really for that long?

The diversion signs say from 8.00 a.m. on 15th, so I just assumed it was just a few roadworks lasting

for the one day!

As you say, it would have been good if they put notices on the bus stops, but maybe they will, next week.

If it is lasting til Jan, I suppose they will put some temporary bus-stops between Stuart & Merttins Roads.

[the-e-dealer]

was open today.

[the-e-dealer]

Which bits of Ivydale? hasn't the bit near station been done recently already?

[The Minkey]

The date on the official letter which was sent to the residents of the section of Ivydale between Mertins and Cheltenham Roads, and to the residents of Cheltenham Road (because no one else uses the bus) said the works would commence Monday 15th Nov which was obviously a mistake. The signs on bus stops went up this morning to say there would be no 343s or 484s along that section of the route until works have been completed.

It gets worse, the notice at the bus stop says the nearest stops will be Rye Hill Park and St Norbert's Road which knocks out 3 stops. Not such a great issue for the fit and healthy but will make things very tricky for those with mobility issues especially with shopping to carry. It would be hoped that there will be a temp stop at the beginning of Stuart Road and if the buses were to stop on Mertin's Road as they do now, but there's nothing to say this will happen.

The resurfacing is badly needed and I have no complaint about that, apart from wouldn't it have been good if the recent works had been done properly the first time round, but the communication and (non) provision of temp. stops seem rather ill thought out. I just dropped by on my neighbours who rely on the buses for their kids to get to school. They knew nothing about it.

Edited to say: The work is planned in two phases, Cheltenham Road being Phase 1 which looks expected to complete in December when they move onto Ivydale Road which is expected to complete in Jan 2012. Sweepstake anyone?

[aquarius moon]

I can't believe that they won't be putting in temporary bus-stops.

I use the Stuart Rd stop every day.

Walking from Rye Hill Park will seem like miles, especially with heavy shopping & when it's pouring with rain.

[The Minkey]

Feel your pain, AM, I live on Kelvington and use the Surrey Road bus stop every day. Dreading lugging the shopping all that way.

[The Minkey]

All signs removed from bus stops this morning, and no works in sight apart from a cluster of barriers waiting to be erected down by Stuart Rd. With the work progressing at this rate who knows when it will finish. Am awaiting a call back from Conways to find out when their next start date is.

[the-e-dealer]

When you say all signs removed from bus stps - what signs do you mean? Signs saying there are no buses? or Signs Saying there are buses?

[The Minkey]

I mean the signs giving the dates the bus stops would be out of action which were there last night but gone by the time I passed by this morning.

Just heard back from Conway and the work is commencing tomorrow - they were delayed because some trees on the diversion route had to be trimmed back to allow for buses to get by. The woman I spoke to said she'd find out who was responsible for the information on the bus signs and for putting them back up - she's not aware of the Mertin's Rd stop being affected so the information about nearest stop on that side of the works being St Norbert's Rd may well be incorrect.

[Renata Hamvas]

The reason why these works will take so long is that deep reconstruction of the highway is being done rather than just resurfacing. I will check about the busstop situation.

Renata

[The Minkey]

Thanks Renata. I don't object to the works taking place, however, the communication has been very poor. No one other than residents of Ivydale and Cheltenham got a letter to inform them of the works and even then the date of Monday 15th November was incorrect.

The communication with regard to the closure of the bus stops has been farcical. Initially the signs went up on the stops on the evening of the 13th so most people would have been unaware of the situation until they turned up to catch a bus the next day. Then less than 24hrs later, the signs were withdrawn so most people again would be none the wiser about the forthcoming closure of the stops. Added to which, if the Mertin's Road stop is unaffected by the works then the information about the nearest stop to that end of Ivydale being St Norbert's Road is wrong. If the signs were withdrawn because of this error, it would have been preferable to leave them in place until new ones were drawn up and they could simply be swapped over. It's surely not acceptable to give such inadequate notice of the closures seeing as it was such a simple thing to stick advance notifications on each of the affected stops - it's only 6 notices on 6 stops after all. I'll reiterate, the walk is not such an issue for healthy people but it's a real killer for people with mobility issues who will struggle to manage. These signs should have gone up at the beginning of last week latest.

[the-e-dealer]

And if turning up to get to work and find you have to do a walk this will make you late. Which is something best to avoid.

[The Minkey]

Exactly, plus the potential for missed appts, kids late for school etc. With adequate notice, it wouldn't be such an issue.

Ah well, what's done is done but it would be great if Renata could raise this point so it reaches the project manager concerned so they can do the Lessons Learned bit and factor in effective communications for their next project.

[aquarius moon]

Today, the buses coming from Peckham were turning into Stuart Rd & then stopping a few yards along, to let people off.

There are police 'no waiting' signs along there though & no sign of a temporary bus stop, so I think it must be

up to the drivers, whether they stop there or continue to the next stop at Merttins Rd.

Coming from the other direction, they appear to be stopping at the old temporary bus stop half way up Inverton Rd, so

tomorrow morning I shall wait there & hope for the best.

I also saw a 343 stop at the school stop on Peckham Rye, so it would be a good idea if they opened that one all day, rather than

just school hours, while the roadworks are going on.

[The Minkey]

Thanks for that. Sounds like they've changed the proposed diversion route if they are going down Inverton. Would you say the Inverton stop is closer to the junction of Cheltenhan/Ivydale than the Merttin's stop?

[aquarius moon]

The Minkey Wrote:

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> Thanks for that. Sounds like they've changed the

> proposed diversion route if they are going down

> Inverton. Would you say the Inverton stop is

> closer to the junction of Cheltenhan/Ivydale than

> the Merttin's stop?

The Merttin's stop is only on one side of the road (going towards Lewisham.) The one on the opposite side is

around the corner in Ivydale Rd, so isn't in use.

Instead of turning left into Ivydale, the buses are going straight on, up Inverton Rd & the temporary bus stop

is about two thirds of the way up. It's been there over a year, since the roadworks when the P12 was diverted for

weeks.

If Surrey Rd was my usual stop, I think it would be quicker to walk to the school stop on Peckham Rye (providing

they will definitely be stopping there.) I don't think there is much difference between that & the Inverton Rd

stop distance wise.

Coming back, just ring the bell after Rye Hill Park & hope for the best!

[The Minkey]

Ah got it - was confusing where Inverton Rd was and totally forgot about the fact that Merttins covers NCG bound direction only. Can't think where the school stop is but presumably is higher up than Rye Hill Park.

[aquarius moon]

It's just past the Stuart Rd stop, where the park starts.

Buses were stopping there today, also at Inverton Rd & the corner of Stuart Rd, so not as bad as I thought it

would be.

[The Minkey]

Well, finally went out again today. No signs on the Surrey Rd bus stop which explains my neighbours shock when I told them today about what the works were and how long they'd be going on for. They thought it was just going to be a 24hr thing. Noo... Picked the bus up at the school stop.

On the way back, rang the bell in the hope the bus would stop on Stuart Rd but it didn't so don't rely on it stopping there. Having said that, it was a 484.

Edited to say: Have you seen the full skip which is now within the area fenced off for the works? Oops.

[Dulwich David]

I agree - the bus stop situation has been a complete farce. With existing bus stops still having people waiting as no Out Of Use signs have been put on.

Saying that - advanced notice of the road works were posted online several weeks ago here

[aquarius moon]

The Minkey wrote:

"Having said that, it was a 484"

*********************************

Why doesn't that surprise me?!

I don't think the 484's will ever win any awards for great customer service.:'(

[The Minkey]

"Saying that - advanced notice of the road works were posted online several weeks ago here:

[bit.ly]"

Granted. I ran across that site when I did a search for information about the works over and above what was contained in the letter from the Council/Conway, and at the time I initiated this thread, there was nothing particularly useful on there apart from the works were expected to commence sometime in November. Bit hit and miss as to whether anyone would stumble across that particular website though and there was nothing on the official Southwark site.

Incidentally, during the same search, I also came across another discussion about these works in which some people were suggesting that all NCG bound double deckers decant their passengers at Stuart Rd, where it was proposed the 343 route would continue as a single-decker, putting me in mind of the sort of people who move in next door to a pub then complain about the noise..

[Renata Hamvas]

I have contacted TFL about the Bus stop situation last week, unfortunately there has been no response so far about it. The delays were caused by trees that had to be pruned back and problems for the buses turning at Inverton, hence the confusing delay. These works are taking so long as it's deep reconstruction rather than purely resurfacing.

Renata

[Dulwich David]

The Minkey Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

>Bit hit and miss

> as to whether anyone would stumble across that

> particular website though and there was nothing on

> the official Southwark site.

>

it's not as busy as EDF but then it's only been going a few months and already they have seven Southwark councillors posting there. If you're in Peckham or Nunhead you can't avoid it really.